Planning an underground sprinkler system

Planning an underground sprinkler system involves several stages. To begin with, consumers should check to see if their locality requires a building permit. Next, check for underground utilities before digging. Find out if there are any local municipal watering ordinances and finally find out your state and local regulations requiring a licensed professional installation if any. Then begin planning an underground sprinkler system for your yard.

Planning an underground sprinkler system

Next you you must begin planning the layout of your underground sprinkler system. Drawing your plan on paper helps you to visualize your underground sprinkler system. A carefully prepared plan helps when ordering materials. It makes it easier to get advice from your garden center, irrigation specialist, or hardware dealer. It serves as a detailed record of where the pipelines are laid.

Begin planning an underground sprinkler system with graph paper, 10 grids to an inch is fine. Use a soft lead pencil, a dime store compass, and a measuring tape. Make your plan complete. A good plan is actually a Birdseye view of your property drawn to scale, preferably 1 inch equaling 20 feet. It should show shrubs, trees, paved areas, fences, mailboxes, raised planters, very drainage or powerlines, and other features that could affect the sprinkler design and installation. If significant, note prevailing wind direction, sun and shade areas, as well as high and low spots in your landscape.

Draw out the Plan

Draw the plan for both front and back yards, even if you plan to install The system in only one area. You may want a similar system in another area at a later date. If you want to include sprinklers for trees and shrubs, indicate any water-sensitive or especially thirsty plants on the plan.

Next, draw in the location of the sprinkler heads. Set your Compass to match the radius of the sprinkler head pattern, available from the manufactures catalog. Locate a quarter circle head in each corner of the lawn, set the compass point I need to head location, and draw a quarter circle to show the area covered by their head. Next, locate half-circle heads along the edges of the line. Space the head so that their spray pattern overlap at least 60%. If you live in a window area, overlap them 100%, so that the spray from each head touches joining heads. Finally, fill in the center area to the line with full circle heads.

It is all right to overlap spray patterns more than is needed to make everything fit but do not space heads too far apart. If one section of the lawn receives less water than the rest, it will die from under-watering unless you could water it by hand.

Once you have located the heads, draw light circles around those that are to be in the same circuit, and follow these rules with arranging the circuits.